- 50,000 of the revolutionary light-emitting plants, called Firefly Petunia, for sale
- Its DNA is spliced with genes from a fungus that naturally glows in the wild.
Genetically modified petunias that glow in the dark have gone on sale in the United States.
The revolutionary light-emitting plants, called Firefly Petunia, have flowers that appear white during the day, but emit light to glow green in the dark.
Petunias glow because their DNA has been spliced with genes from a naturally glowing fungus.
Retailing for $29.00 (£22.00), the plants are currently only on sale in the US.
The revolutionary light-emitting plants, called Firefly Petunia, have flowers that appear white during the day, but emit light to glow green in the dark.
Petunias glow because their DNA has been spliced with genes from a naturally glowing fungus.
The firefly petunia glows softly green in the dark thanks to genes implanted in it extracted from a bioluminescent fungus, called Neonothopanus nambi, found in Central and South America, Malaysia and Australia.
The company behind the plant, Light Bio of Sun Valley, Idaho, has grown 50,000 plants for sale.
The glowing plants differ from another genetically modified organism sold on the US market, Glo Fish, which is fluorescent and only glows under ultraviolet light.
Firefly petunia will glow without special bulbs illuminating it.
Karen Sarkisyan, a synthetic biologist at the MRC Medical Sciences Laboratory in London, one of the founders of Light Bio, told Nature.com: “If you treat the plant very well, if it gets enough sunlight and is healthy, it will shine brighter.” “Though it won’t be bright enough to keep you awake at night,” she added.
The plant was approved by the United States Department of Agriculture in September.
Retailing for $29.00 (£22.00), the plants are currently only on sale in the US.
Light Bio said the type of petunia does not grow in the U.S. and is not considered an invasive species, so its chances of spreading in the wild should be minimal.
Another genetically modified vegetable is the purple tomato, whose seeds went on sale in the United States this year and is the first genetically modified food product marketed to gardeners.
The purple tomato has genes from a snapdragon plant inserted into it to produce a fruit rich in purple antioxidants, which are believed to offer health benefits to those who eat them.
Matt Appleby, gardening expert and editor of Horticulture Week, said he hoped genetically modified houseplants such as glossy petunia and purple tomato would soon be on sale in the UK under the new legislation.
Appleby said: “It’s only a matter of time before we have more weird and wonderful, as well as useful and salable, garden plants in the UK.” Gardeners love new things, so go for it.
But Pat Thomas, of the anti-GMO group Beyond GM, said that under new laws being drawn up, such plants could be sold in the UK but would offer little benefit to humanity.
‘Planned new legislation will mean that genetically modified plants like this will soon be freely available, without labelling, and the government is working at some speed to introduce this.
‘A key point here is that a big part of the ‘sell’ of genetically modified plants is that they will bring significant and measurable public benefits that will help us fight climate change and feed a hungry world.
“It’s hard to understand how glow-in-the-dark petunias fall into this category. In reality, studies show that, for the most part, plants marketed using genetic technologies fall into what I would call the “fluffy” category of crowd-pleasing plants that change color and flavor and provide no benefits. significant to people or the planet. and they exist only for quick short-term profits.